This week, we’ll explore the word love. 1 John 4:7-21, which will be Sunday’s text, states that God is love and God loves us. Therefore, we are called to love one another. In the Gospels, Jesus pushes us to not just love one another, but to love even our enemies. Personally, I have not encountered many enemies. I have never had my life threatened. So, this command is not as daunting as it is for others. But for someone who sought justice and reform like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he encountered very real threats to his life and the lives of his loved ones. A 1966 Gallup poll found that nearly two thirds of Americans had an unfavorable view of Dr. King. Hard to imagine that now as he is so celebrated, but it’s important to know and remember that Dr. King was not popular and had real enemies. This reality makes his words on loving enemies all the more poignant. For this week’s Thursday Thoughts, reflect an excerpt from Dr. King’s 1957 sermon titled, “Loving Your Enemies”
“The meaning of love is not to be confused with some sentimental outpouring. Love is something much deeper than emotional bosh. Perhaps the Greek language can clear our confusion at this point. In the Greek New Testament are three words for love. The word eros is a sort of aesthetic or romantic love. In the Platonic dialogues eros is a yearning of the soul for the realm of the divine. The second word is philia, a reciprocal love and the intimate affection and friendship between friends. We love those whom we like, and we love because we are loved. The third word is agape understanding and creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. An overflowing love which seeks nothing in return, agape is the love of God operating in the human heart. At this level, we love men not because we like them, nor because their ways appeal to us, nor even because they possess some type of divine spark; we love every man because God loves him. At this level, we love the person who does an evil deed, although we hate the deed that he does.
Now we can see what Jesus meant when he said, “Love your enemies.” We should be happy that he did not say, “Like your enemies.” It is almost impossible to like some people. “Like” is a sentimental and affectionate word. How can we be affectionate toward a person whose avowed aim is to crush our very being and place innumerable stumbling blocks in our path? How can we like a person who is threatening our children and bombing our homes? That is impossible. But Jesus recognized that love is greater than like. When Jesus bids us to love our enemies, he is speaking neither of eros nor philia; he is speaking of agape understanding and creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. Only by following this way and responding with this type of love are we able to be children of our Father who is in heaven.”
Pastor Drew's Desk 